This invention relates generally to touch panel displays, and more particularly the invention relates to a support assembly for mounting a touch panel including light emitters and detectors in a display housing.
Touch panel displays employ a crossed light-beam position encoder including X and Y coordinate arrays of paired infrared light sources and detectors for covering a display device surface with X and Y crossed lightbeams. The sources and detectors are scanned sequentially so that only one source is emitting light and its associated detector detecting light at any particular time. Means are provided for noting the digital address of the beams during sequential scanning and for recording those addresses. The digital address, and therefore the position of the broken beams, is then transferred back to a computer. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,775,560, for "Infrared Light Beam X-Y Position Encoder for Display Devices." The X and Y crossed lightbeams are superimposed on the display surface and spaced therefrom so that an operator can encode a position on the surface of the display by use of a finger, for example.
Means must be provided for supporting the light sources and detectors in close proximity to the front surface of the panel. Further, means must be provided for mounting the touch panel assembly in a housing for the display. Advantageously, the display should be mounted in the housing so that the display and electronics are protected from contamination from the ambient environment.